Police to aim Tasers away from chest

Local departments get orders after manufacturer issued warning about cardiac arrest.

October 20, 2009|By Pamela Lehman and Riley Yates Of The Morning Call

Some area police departments will change the way they aim Tasers at suspects after the manufacturer warned shots to the chest could be fatal.

Officers from the Bethlehem, Easton, Bethlehem Township and Colonial Regional departments are being ordered to avoid one of the biggest targets -- the chest -- and aim instead for the back or legs.

Earlier this month, the Arizona-based manufacturer warned Taser jolts to the chest could be linked to cardiac arrest or other medical conditions.

The target change won't be a deterrent for Bethlehem officers, who began using Tasers earlier this summer, said Deputy Commissioner Stuart Bedics.

"We've found it to be an extremely useful tool, and this won't change that," Bedics said. "But the warnings are something we're taking seriously."

Critics argue Tasers have been linked to serious injuries and deaths for years and that fact -- not a warning from the manufacturer -- should have forced departments to rethink their use.

"For the company to finally acknowledge that these things can endanger people's lives ... what were police waiting for?" said Mary Catherine Roper, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. "Instead of looking out for us, they waited until a company with a commercial interest in selling them finally said these things are dangerous."

Tasers, first used by law enforcement agencies in the 1990s, were touted as a less-than-lethal method of instantly incapacitating suspects with an electric jolt discharged by the weapon. Amnesty International claims that from 2001 through August 2008, 334 people in the United States died after being jolted by a Taser.

While the company insists the risk is minimal, it warns that a Taser used on someone under the effects of drugs or alcohol and struggling with police could increase the chance of a "cardiac event," according to the training bulletin released earlier this month. The warning states eliminating chest shots "avoids the controversy about whether [electronic control devices] do or do not affect the human heart."

Officials with all of the local departments making the policy change said if the only clear target is the upper chest, police officers are still authorized to use a Taser.

In 2004, Bushkill Township police were cleared of wrongdoing in the death of a 32-year-old man who was shot with a Taser.

Officers received calls from residents about Kris Lieberman, who was naked from the waist down and screaming in a field. Police said Lieberman threatened to kill an officer and refused orders to stay on the ground.

Lieberman died after being subdued by police. Officials said he died of a combination of factors, including a level of cocaine in his blood that could have caused cardiac arrest and the struggle with officers.

His family is pursuing a federal lawsuit that seeks more than $100 million. The suit claims excessive force when Lieberman was shocked "at least" 11 times in less than a minute.

The suit named police officials in Bushkill and Upper Nazareth, who also responded to the scene, as well as the two townships and Taser International. Most of the parties -- including Taser International, Bushkill and Upper Nazareth -- have been dismissed from the suit. Bushkill officers David Marino and Sean Stuber are asking the suit against them also be thrown out and are appealing to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to court records.

Bushkill police are aware of Taser's new recommendation and will probably change their policies next month during re-certification training, Capt. Michael McLouth said.

Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said it makes sense for police to try to use Tasers in a way that lessens unintended risks. But he said they are effective tools that are less dangerous to suspects than the alternative.

"In the old days before a Taser, they'd just use live bullets," Morganelli said.

While Morganelli said Tasers are often used against people who are armed or "completely out of control," a defense attorney argued police use Tasers too often. Erv McLain of Bethlehem said officers tend to use them not when there's an armed assailant, but when there's a suspect with a bad attitude.

"You get somebody who's cocky and shooting off their mouth, they're the guys they Taser," McLain said.

Gary Asteak, an Easton attorney who practices criminal and municipal law, said the use of Tasers is rare.

Police are required to justify using a Taser just as they would firing a gun, Asteak said. The use of a Taser is not a decision they take lightly, he said.

"Police officers have to go pretty far down the line of the use-of-force continuum before they make that decision," Asteak said. "I haven't gotten any sense that they're Taser-happy."

HOW A TASER WORKS:

Tasers can either be placed directly against the skin or fire two barb-tipped wires up to 35 feet.

Once the electrodes hit their target, the Taser sends a pulse of 50,000 volts of electricity. On the standard setting, the pulse cycles five seconds before shutting off.

The pulse not only causes pain, but also triggers a contraction in the muscles where the barbs hit. The contraction causes a temporary paralysis that allows officers to apprehend the suspect.